


The Traitorous Cat

by Salora_Rainriver



Series: Lost Inheritance [1]
Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Characters from the Filmation series, F/F, Gen, Harpies ahoy, Hordak Commits Genocide. Twice., In Media Res beginning, Local Heterosexual Couple Steals Babies, Magicats ahoy, Memory Loss Plot, Political Drama, Princess Catra, Shadow Weaver is Racist, Surprise Catrapta, Things are not as they seem, heavy worldbuilding
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-24
Updated: 2019-09-14
Packaged: 2019-11-05 03:25:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,683
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17911097
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Salora_Rainriver/pseuds/Salora_Rainriver
Summary: The precise circumstances of Hordak's rise to power have always been shrouded in mystery, and very few people know what truly happened in the Fright Zone on that fateful day. Hordak made sure of that.But now, on the cusp of the Horde's victory, his lie is beginning to unravel. His second-in-command recalls a memory that was suppressed, and in her quest for truth, she uncovers the chilling secret about who she is, and what Hordak ripped from her.





	1. For the Assembly

**Author's Note:**

> Might as well start posting the chapters to this huge project! ahaha... here's to hoping my executive function carries me through to the end!
> 
> A note before we begin: This fic series is not purely chronological. It's gonna have 4 stories, and the first three will be the same period of time, from different perspectives. There's also flashbacks/flashforwards, and this particular story starts in media res. If you're lost, pay attention to the dates.
> 
> I hope you enjoy it!

>   
>  \--
> 
> \--30 / 01 / 1020--  
>  < Catra! I figured out where the Beast King is!  
>  > oh?  
>  > sweet. where is he?  
>  < Well, rumor has it that the dangerous creature in Cell Block ZZ is a dragon. Most likely Sorrowful himself, given what we know already.  
>  < But I don’t settle for maybes. A bit of digging around, and I can confirm that just about the only thing in Cell Block ZZ is a prisoner named, and I quote, ‘Great Beast’. Suspiciously cryptic… but it can’t be anything else.  
>  > ah, ZZ  
>  > the cell block that’s probably just an urban legend  
>  > of course  
>  > do you know how one would could, hypothetically reaching, access this “great beast”?  
>  < absolutely! There’s three passwords, a bioscanner, and guardbots everywhere. If you’re not Hordak, that would pose a problem. Fortunately, I got the passwords from Hordak’s personal server, found a vulnerability that could let someone bypass the bioscanner, and discovered the setting that disables the guardbots! With that out of the way, all you’d need to do is walk right in!  
>  > I’m sorry.  
>  > you hacked into Hordak’s server?  
>  < yep! Had to do it anyways to locate the cell block and figure out what’s even in it, so I figured, hey, why not?  
>  > incredible  
>  > god I could kiss you right now  
>  < Not gonna ask why you wanted this info…  
>  < Oh! I also located the heirs of the former members of the Black Assembly!  
>  > this just keeps getting better and better  
>  > spill  
>  < You already know Scorpia. She’s, er… missing. She left a note two days ago saying she’d be back soon, so hopefully, she’s back soon!  
>  > how thoughtful  
>  > that girl’s too sweet for her own good  
>  < Force Captain Rattlora is stationed at Octopus Cove. It sounds like a really boring assignment, so contacting her would be a cinch.  
>  > who said we were contacting them?  
>  < Just a hunch.  
>  < Senior Cadet Ghira is on a mission in Plumeria, under the command of Force Captain Grizzlor. Well, was. They’re coming back now. The mission was a failure.  
>  < Force Captain Ralga is… problematic.  
>  > problematic?  
>  < Did you hear about what happened at Talon Mountain? Ralga was there.  
>  > oh  
>  > well that blows  
>  < No clue where she is right now. I’ll try to keep digging. The debriefings for that mission are heavily encrypted, it’s going to take a while.  
>  < By the way, what are you doing in Cell Block H? :o  
>  > unfinished business  
>  > don’t butt in  
>  < Alright, then. Entrapta out!  
>  \-- 

The prisons in the Fright Zone are eerily well-organized. Each cell block is a circular panopticon, each level has a number from 0 to 14, each of the 20 cells in each level are also numbered. Around twenty cell blocks in total, not counting the rumored twenty-first, ZZ, which they say is populated only by those prisoners too terrible to ever see the sun again. They say that block only has ten cells in total, and apparently, only one is occupied. But Catra isn’t in Cell Block ZZ right now. She’s in a high-security block, reserved for traitors and rebels. The moving platform takes her down, floor after floor after floor, all the way to the bottom… The bottom floor is almost empty. She knows where she’s going, but it doesn’t hurt that the cell she’s seeking is the only one that actually has a prisoner inside.

She’s not sure why the force field is necessary for this one, honestly. The former sorcerer is a shadow of her former self. Her mask broken, her powers gone, her tattered robes doing little to conceal her weak and disfigured body… there’s really no way she could break out of the bonds they have her in, the bonds that hang her up on the wall like some sort of painting, arms and legs spread apart, head bowed either from weariness or despair. Surely, this is some sort of torture… though frankly? It’s a torture that’s well-deserved.

Catra shuts down the force field and moves into the cell. The field activates behind her, an automatic function to ensure the prisoner cannot escape even if they kill their guard. Not that this one can do anything to her. She chuckles. 

“Uncomfortable, Shadow Weaver? Good.”

Shadow Weaver speaks.

“Catra. I didn’t think you’d have the nerve to come down here... I hear you’ve got my position, now! Come to gloat about it?”

“Oh, hardly that... I’ve actually come to congratulate you! I hear your plea deal came through, and you’re getting out of here tomorrow! On parole, of course, and stripped of your position, Hordak isn’t that merciful… but still. You’ll be free.” She approaches the bound sorcerer as she monologues, claws lazily scraping against the wall. She looks up to Shadow Weaver, and though she smiles, the hatred is apparent in her eyes. “How… lucky of you...” 

“That’s good. I’ll be glad to get out of here, even if I cannot regain the power of the-“

A sharp knife stabs her gut. She chokes, corrupted eyes staring up at Catra. Catra twists the knife with a snarl.

“Too bad I’m not so forgiving.”

“What- what is the meaning of this… you would dare?”

Catra cackles, turning away. She walks a few steps away, almost purring as she begins to speak.

“Your spells have faded, Shadow Weaver! You weren’t there to maintain them... and now I remember everything you’ve done to me.” She stops her little walk, and turns back to the bleeding prisoner, her eyes burning with rage. “Everything you’ve stolen from me.”

“... Is that it, then? You’re going to disobey Lord Hordak, kill me on the day before my release... for revenge?” The once-silken croon of her voice has degraded to a rasp, a terrible hissing. Oh, how the mighty have fallen. Catra’s ear twitches at the change in tone. And then she answers.

“Not revenge. Justice. Justice upon you both, actually.”

Shadow Weaver coughed, staring into the Force Captain’s eyes. “You wouldn’t.“

“Oh, I would, Shadow Weaver. And I will. Who’s going to stop me... you?” Her lips turn into a bitter smirk and she holds Shadow Weaver’s cheek, her claws digging into the flesh, breaking the skin. “Yeah, that’s not happening. Hordak will pay for his lies, and you’ll be too dead to watch me take him down.”

“The Horde is your _home_ ,”

“That’s what you wanted me to think, wasn’t it?” she muttered, pulling out the knife, turning it slowly in her hand, pretending to regard the blood on its blade, the blood flowing freely from the hole in Shadow Weaver’s side. Her claw taps the metal, once, twice. “But it’s not the truth. It never was.” Three times.

“We fed you. Clothed you. Raised you-“ 

Catra lunges. Her claws scrape against the wall next to the prisoner’s face. The screech rings through Shadow Weaver’s ears.

“You fed me the dregs at the bottom of the cookpot, you clothed me in filthy rags, you raised me to hate myself... and you stole my future away from me. You stole all our futures away.”

Slice. Her claws scrape across Shadow Weaver’s face.  
“This is for Chelicher.”

Another slice.  
“And this is for Rachnea.”

Again. And again. And again. She digs her claws in deeper, now.  
“For C’yra! For Hiss, for Sorrowful, for Agho!”

She pulls the knife out, then punches Shadow Weaver in the ribs.  
“For Hunga.”

Another punch. The rib cracks.  
“And for Micah.”

Groaning in pain, Shadow Weaver somehow finds the strength to speak.  
“I told him... it wasn’t worth it... we have She-Ra, no need for… lesser princesses… leave no cat… alive...”

Catra ignores her, pulling her hair and making her look upwards. She tosses the bloodied knife to the side, letting it strike a wall and clatter to the floor. She smirks, her blue and yellow eyes glowing unnaturally bright.

“Maybe you should have broken the Tigerseye while you were at it, you bitch! Too bad you could never find it. Too bad you never will.” 

She steps back, her claws scraping up the sorceress’ wounded body. This time, the claws burn like hot embers, a trail of fire blazing up her chest, neck, face.

The roaring flames drown out her screams. Eventually, it’s over. Catra’s communicator beeps. Ear twitching, brow raised in mild surprise, she answers the call.

“So is it safe to say that you want the security footage for Cell H-009 deleted immediately?”

Catra just stands there. 

“... how much of that did you catch, Entrapta?”

“The whole thing. Remind me never to get on your bad side, Force Captain.” Her voice seemed amused, but Catra wasn’t sure she could trust the princess. 

“And what are you going to do with that footage?” she asked, her voice cautious, wavering.

“Already gone, along with all the security cam data for Cell Block H, up until last week! Now it looks like an unfortunate run-in with malware, or an administrative mistake, or a power surge. Ooh, maybe I should add in some fake data, corrupt it so it’ll be inaccessible, make them think it was the surge, maybe destroy some hardware to make it convi-”

“Do you realize what you’re doing, Entrapta?” 

There was a silence on the other end, before the girl’s chipper voice returned once more. “Of course. I’m erasing the evidence so you won’t get caught, and you can continue your plans to-” 

“You’re now an accomplice in a plot to overthrow Lord Hordak.” 

“... And? I was a rebel once, you know, and I wouldn’t mind being a rebel again.”

Catra cackled at that one.  
“Maybe so! But don’t start phoning Bright Moon yet, sweetheart. There’s a lot of work we need to do, first.”

“Oooh, let me guess… next stop is Cell Block ZZ?”

“You catch on quick...” she purrs, tapping in the passcode to open up the force field, stepping through across the moving platform. It moves on its own, up to the entrance to the cell block. 

“Come to think of it, maybe I should actually cause a power surge… it’s hard to smuggle a dragon out of the Fright Zone, and something tells me those robots have automatic security protocols…”

Catra smiles as she listens to the technician babble on. It’s nice to have an accomplice, and with Entrapta on her side… she might be able to get away with a lot. 

Maybe even stop Hordak.


	2. The Price of Freedom

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "We have made no progress. The harpies sleep at night, they refuse to fight, they steal their food from the villages, and there are thousands of them."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: any relation to real-life political events, places, or people is entirely coincidental.

=======================  
==11th of Winterspeak, Year 1019==

Another morning spent with the Heart Blossom. 

The leaves are beginning to wilt, she notes. The sickness spreading through the land now effects even the Heart Blossom. How unfortunate. And still, she can do nothing of it. She meditates with the runestone, uses her powers, studies the ancient medicinal tomes and almanacs, and nothing has delivered results. Nothing would help her dying kingdom. They will surely fall to the Horde within a week.

And then, a noise. One of the people of the town has joined her by the Heart Blossom, and she’s carrying a bottle… A bottle filled with petals and leaves, wrapped in purple thread. 

A flower-message? Perfuma didn’t think she had an admirer… and it seems she doesn’t, for the woman’s next words confirm that the message’s significance is something entirely different: 

“From one of the hunters in the Deep Woods. The messenger told me that this is of the utmost importance.”

Oh. A wartime flower-message. Those haven’t been used for hundreds of years. Plumeria doesn’t go to war, not anymore… but now it’s different, isn’t it? Yes, this is a siege. The Horde at their doorstep pushes them to war, a war they cannot hope to win, and yet… this hunter thinks themself a scout, and have adopted the symbolic trappings of wartime. Perhaps they hope that this ritualistic display will fill Plumeria with a fighting spirit that it lost long ago. She sighs, and looks through the glass into the inside of the cork-stopped bottle, hoping that her understanding of wartime flower-messages is sufficient to read this.

The first thing Perfuma notices is the upside-down lotus flower, carefully placed in the center of the bottle arrangement. The lotus flower means knowledge, particularly secret knowledge, but when a full bloom, leaf and all, becomes the centerpiece of the arrangement in this manner, it informs the structure of the entire message. Thank goodness the lotus-arrangement is one of the more common structures in flower-messages: this one is used to clarify what is known and what is not known. Whatever lies below the lotus is known, and whatever lies above it is unknown.

Then… below the lotus, cradled by its petals… is moss, mixed with the leaves of the Darkoak trees of the Deep Woods. Darkoak flowers normally refer to deception, but these are leaves. Leaves are meaningless in flower-message language… That means the leaves here signify the Deep Woods themselves, perhaps. And then the moss, another plant without special meaning. Moss, the plant of riverside rocks, towering cliffs over the sea, crumbling ruins, and the forest floor. Though many of the flowers in Plumeria have been wilting away, the resilient moss has persisted, and continues to grow undaunted. Though the scout could surely have found mosses of vivid green, this sample is… distinctly reddish. Perfuma frowns. This is crimson moss. It would have been very hard for the scout to find a sample of this. Crimson moss doesn’t grow in Plumeria at all. It’s a slightly poisonous plant, that only grows in the arid plains and harsh mountains surrounding the Fright Zone. Is the scout trying to say that they know the Horde is in the Deep Woods? This seems obvious. The Horde is all over Plumeria, now. But then, Perfuma sees it. And she lets out a small giggle. 

A feather was placed in the midst of the moss and darkoak. Placing things that aren’t plants within a flower-message is… unorthodox, to say the least. But if it works, it works, and now Perfuma understands the significance of the moss: 

Harpies. 

Harpies have been found in the Deep Woods.

Well! If Perfuma didn’t have enough to worry about, already!

Above the lotus is… Perfuma raises a brow. The large, curling petals of an orange lily, mixed with the cheery yellow blooms of a carnation. Hatred and friendship… they do not know if the harpies are friend or foe? Harpies have long been allied with the Horde… though only allied. They’ve been adamant about retaining their independence from Hordak. Perhaps something the scout has seen is making them doubt the intentions of those winged intruders. Perfuma wishes that flower-messages could be more specific. 

The princess sets the bottle down, and thinks carefully on the situation. Harpies are never a good sign, and even if there’s a chance that they may be friendly this time… they’ve never been friendly in the past. To ignore this could be disastrous, especially since her would-be scout deemed the situation so dire, they opted for a coded wartime message instead of a simple letter. War. Perfuma still cannot come to grips with the idea that her kingdom is at war. How are they supposed to fight? How are they supposed to survive... 

She takes a deep breath, and takes a step back. The universe would not abandon her people now, surely, there is a way. 

… Yes. She-Ra. The legendary hero was found at Bright Moon, and Perfuma had petitioned for her aid. She’s coming over, now, in a few days, she’ll arrive. She-Ra can repel the Horde, She-Ra can investigate the harpy threat in the deep woods… Her scout needs orders, then. And Perfuma knows what she must do. 

First, a pen and paper. She rushes to a nearby table, searches for the supplies, takes a moment to remember the etiquette of letter-writing, then begins her work. She writes a non-coded message, telling the hunter that they can now call themself a scoutmaster. Yes, Plumeria will need scoutmasters, won’t they? Even if they cannot fight… they can listen, and look. And this hunter showed initiative. They wouldn’t squander their new position. Furthermore, it’s a sign that she takes the threat of the harpies seriously. 

Perfuma seals the message with a purple string, and directs her attention to the bottle, now. She can reuse it to send a reply. She unceremoniously empties its contents onto the dirt floor, then ponders on what flowers to send. A simple mix of flowers may do for her purposes. No need for any particular structure.

Without any centerpiece blooms, the common structure is to read the layers of a flower message from bottom to top, so that is how she begins her petal arrangement. With her powers, she summons her first two flowers: Aster and wild rose. 

“Thank you for the information. Have patience.” 

She pauses a moment, wondering if her use of the delicate pink blooms of the wild rose will help clarify the platonic meaning of the arrangement. Otherwise, this could get really awkward! After some thought, she adds in bluebell, another flower signifying gratitude, with no romantic implications. Hopefully, that makes things clear for them. Then, Perfuma recalls an old Plumerian legend, from back when her people still fought. In their darkest hour, an eagle flew into the home of Plumeria’s queen, carrying a simple flower-message, just four flowers. In order, she summons up those exact plants, and places them in the bottle: 

Iris, the flower of the rainbow, a joy that arrives after horrible storm,

“Hope is coming,” 

Daffodil, a bright bloom of good fortune,

“Our luck will change,”

Gladiolus, flower of the warrior,

“A warrior will arrive,” 

Finally, a Dandelion, the flower of resilience, warmth, healing, fulfillment, and the rising sun.

“And her name is She-Ra.”

Yes, that’s it, Perfuma thinks as she stops the bottle with a cork once again, her message complete. She-Ra is coming. All will be well soon.

=======================  
==10th of Wintersend, Year 1020==

“We have made no progress.” 

Figures. It’s been two months since the siege of Plumeria ended, and yet, those damned harpies have not left Plumeria, and they have evaded even the most cunning traps set by the hunters of the Deep Woods. She looks to the other bottle, now. Lotus blooms at the bottom, crimson moss at the top. She raises a brow. New information on the harpies? 

She examines the first layer of the arrangement. Chamomile leaves and… nightshade leaves? Perfuma shakes her head. Is there really not a single bloom in all of Etheria that represents nighttime or sleep, forcing her scoutmaster to use a tea leaf that induces drowsiness alongside a pun? Well… if it works, it works.

“The harpies sleep at night,”

The next layers are more traditional, and Perfuma reads them easily: 

“they refuse to fight,  
They steal their food from the villages,”

Then finally… tied next to the second bottle is a small vial, filled with many tiny grains of rice.  
Confused for a moment… perfuma’s eyes go wide with horror as she realizes what her scoutmaster means to say.

“And there are thousands of them.”

She sighs. This has gone on too long, and if there are truly thousands of these harpies in the Deep Woods… then they’ll definitely need She-Ra. Given what had happened only recently, Perfuma is loath to call on Adora for aid and pull her out of a well-deserved break… 

… but thousands of harpies are hiding in her woods, raiding her villages at night, with no sign of stopping. There’s no way her kingdom can face them alone.  
She picks up her pen and writes a letter to Bright Moon.

 

==================================  
==14th of Wintersend, Year 1020 (Day of Yearning)==

 

Adora doesn’t know much about harpies. They stick to their own turf, and there were precious few in the Fright Zone. Adora thinks… maybe she saw Force Captain Ralga once or twice in the mess hall when they were younger? Maybe? 

But while she knows little about the harpies as a people, she knows much about their tactics. The harpies, despite their independence, were always willing to lend their aid to the Horde’s war campaigns. Thus, their unique variety of airborne strategies were covered during cadet training. Adora didn’t see the point of studying the harpy tactics at the time. After all, Adora didn’t have wings, and the harpy troops have their own commanders, anyways. But now? Now, that niche knowledge is actually serving a purpose. 

Partially because, now that she has Swift Wind, she can actually execute those airborne maneuvers herself. 

Partially because knowing how a harpy fights or flees is the first step of knowing how to corner them.

The fluttering of wings in the dead of night is disorienting, as are the cacophonous screeches all around. But they’re focused on the intruders, Bow and Glimmer, who approaches the harpy roost from the ground. Up in the sky, Adora watches the chaos carefully… and waits.

She’s still at a disadvantage. Harpy eyes can see very well in the darkness, and Adora’s cannot. The dim light of the Etherian moons are the only thing she can rely on as she struggles to make out shapes in the chaotic motion below… but right now, she doesn’t need to see. 

Sometimes, a disadvantage can be an advantage.

She asks Swift Wind to take her down. Down into the thick of the flock. The harpies see her, some flying away, others diving in an attempt to swipe at her, but just as one swoops in close enough to strike, Adora cries out, 

“For the honor of Grayskull!” 

The light of her transformation is blinding. Most of the harpies screech and swoop away, but the one just inches from Swift wind’s snout is too disoriented by the flash to control her flying. 

She slams into She-Ra. Just as planned.

Swift Wind, being big, strong, and magical, manages to regain his “footing” (winging?) and remain airborne. The harpy does not. She plummets to the ground, soon to be captured by the Rebellion.

Glimmer sees the flash from the ground. She-Ra is directly above her, and the clearing is big enough for to make out the gist of the action. Though the harpies scatter and try to fly away at first, when the one that was next to She-Ra starts falling, they quickly change course, and start circling high in the sky. Apparently, they don’t want to leave their downed companion behind… and a few moments later, Glimmer sees why: she's their leader.

Though disoriented, blinded, and unable to stop herself from tumbling through the sky, the harpy’s leathery wings do manage to stretch out wide enough to slow her descent… just enough to avoid getting seriously injured. Unfortunately for her, Bow springs the trap as soon as she hits the ground. A thick net keeps her pinned to the forest floor. 

Adora lands next to the captured harpy, watching the sky with unease, while Glimmer walks forward, summoning a ball of light to illuminate the prisoner’s features: 

A young woman in Horde uniform, with dark grey fur, long and greasy black hair, a single pair of horns that curve slightly upwards, large batlike wings, a long skinny tail, grey-scaled talons, two fanglike snaggleteeth… and a Force Captain Badge. Adora’s the one who identifies her. 

“...Force Captain Ralga. What are you doing here?”

The woman’s long pointed ears twitch in annoyance. “Hiding?” she retorts, “Eating? Sleeping?” 

The smart-aleck answer earns her a sharp staff pointed at her face. Glimmer is not interested in playing along at the moment. “Start talking, prisoner!”

“Or what, princess?” She sneered.

“Or I’ll…” she started to say, before she faltered. She was getting too emotional. Seeing the harpy brought back old feelings that she forgot she still had. “... I won’t hesitate to kill you!”

“And you think killing me will be justice, Princess Glimmer? Justice for your father? I’m sure he’s very proud of his daughter’s loyalty...”

“As if you know what loyalty means! You sold your nations over to Hordak! You betrayed your people... you betrayed Etheria itself!” 

Ralga laughed. “What we did to Micah wasn’t betrayal, Glimmer. It was justice… justice for what you had done to us!” 

Adora grimaced at the sound of that, though the words didn’t seem to affect Glimmer. “We didn’t do anything to you! You attacked us!” 

“Has your dear mother never told you who fired the first shot, princess? Did she never tell you what happened at the Hall of Horrors?”

“Maybe she did, maybe she didn’t!” snapped Glimmer, waving her staff in the harpy’s face. “But why don’t you tell me, anyways? Jog my memory a bit!” 

Adora turned away. She knew what Ralga was talking about. Everyone in the Fright Zone knew. Those who were old enough to remember had the memory of it seared into their minds. The princess of Bright Moon wasn’t going to like the harpy’s answer.

“Assassins. Hired assassins, trained by Mystacor. They infiltrated the Hall, yes, with all their magic, and then they took control of the security robots, turned them on the people they were meant to protect. The regents died, Chelicer and Rachnea of Scorpion Hill. Those were the main targets. All the servants, scribes, administrative officials, common men, women, and children… those were just collateral damage as the entire hall burned to the ground.”

A simple, straightforward answer, that led to an incredulous and horrified reply. “How dare yo- we NEVER hired assassins!”

Bow’s voice chimed in, no less disturbed by the story that Ralga weaved. “Castaspella and Angella would never do something like that!”

But they did, thought Adora. That’s exactly what happened. Adora couldn’t possibly have remembered, herself. She was too young. But she heard the stories from the older cadets, the Force Captains, the veterans. Those stories chilled her to the bone, and whenever she had doubts that what she was doing was right, she remembered the stories. The children with their eyes wide as they heard the chilling broadcast play over the radios, the chaos in the streets as word spread that the Hall of Horrors was burning, that someone had attacked it, the blind confusion that swept through the Fright Zone as everyone asked who had attacked them, how, and why, the horror as people realized their friends and family were trapped inside… When she was old enough, Adora watched Hordak’s coronation speech, made after the flames had died down, and it was clear that the regents were dead. He was always a terrifyingly stoic man, but the way he spoke in that speech… there were no words to describe it.

“We weren’t even trying to take over the Fright Zone! The Assembly attacked first, and-“

“You’re not listening to me! I KNOW Bright Moon and Mystacor couldn’t possibly have-“

Adora wasn’t listening. Her gaze was directed skyward, at the indistinct shapes of countless wings above them, circling endlessly, effortlessly, far above them. Some dive down, perhaps to get a closer look, before diving back up again. Their endless chatter is muffled by the distance, but there’s so many of them... too many to be a scouting party, a squadron, or even an army… a strange thought forms in her mind.

“How many are up there, Ralga?” She asks, turning now to the harpy and the princess, still shouting over each other.

The harpy, from beneath the steel-thread net that has trapped her, raises her brows.... then regains her composure. Her smug, grim composure.

“How many harpies live on Talon Mountain? Answer that, and you will know how many are with me.”

Glimmer is incredulous. “What the- the WHOLE MOUNTAIN?!” 

As she should be. The winding tunnels of the harpy’s homeland hold enough homes for over twenty-five thousand people. It’s a city, a city as big as the Fright Zone itself. Not even the Horde could command an army the size of a city. 

“The whole mountain,” Ralga hissed, “soldiers, workers, elders, children, mothers with unhatched eggs, the sick and the rich and the poor, they’re all here. Circling above us.”

The more Adora listens, the more Ralga speaks, the more unbelievable it sounds. She’s bluffing, surely... but on the other hand, very few of the harpies she saw were carrying weapons… even fewer were wearing armor...

While Bow was silent, brow furrowed as he considers the implications of this, Glimmer voices her confusion aloud:

“Has Hordak lost his mind?! Sending an entire city to attack Plumeria?! How are- how are CHILDREN going to fight a battle? This is… this is crazy!”

“We had no choice. Talon Mountain is no more.”

Now even Glimmer has fallen silent. She opens her mouth, beginning to voice an objection, but one look at Ralga’s grim expression confirms that what she says is true. And that means...

“... you’re not here to fight us.”

“As I told you. We’re here to eat, sleep, and hide. To survive.”

Bow rushes over, now. As he works to free Ralga from the net, he asks her, “what happened?” 

“It was some sort of bomb. Perhaps many bombs." The harpy's voice is cold. Stoic. The voice of someone who has no more tears to shed. Someone who can't afford to cry. "The tunnels began to collapse, one by one, then all at once. Those who could not run or fly... were buried under the rubble.“

She rises to her feet, now, shaking the dust from her neck fur and stretching her wings. Adora looks up as the harpies start to descend, no longer threatened by the presence of a hostile She-Ra. They land upon the branches of the great darkoak trees. At first, it’s only the guard captains and soldiers, some dressed in horde uniform, others dressed in the traditional leather armor of Talon Mountain. Then others begin to descend. All manner of people, in all manner of clothes, but all dirty and thin, eyes dark with exhaustion and pain. All of them refugees. 

“Who could have destroyed an entire mountain?” Asks Adora, looking at the sea of bright eyes reflecting the light from Glimmer's magic.

“Who else but Hordak?” Ralga's voice was matter-of-fact as she answered this, though her words came as a shock to the rebels. They implied a treachery. A betrayal. Resistance from within the Horde's territory... a new layer to the horrors of the Great War.

Adora looks to Ralga, now. Her eyes flickered down to the harpy’s Force Captain badge. She still wore it, though she's surely been stripped of her position, now. Just as Adora was. The harpy followed her gaze. She tapped a claw against the tarnished metal surface, and chuckled softly. "Got nothing else to show that I'm special. No crown, no circlet, no tiara. This will have to do for now."

And then her smile faded once more. She looked Adora in the eyes and shared her story.

“Back in the Fright Zone, they’re calling it the Revolt of Talon Mountain.” She hesitates for a moment, then continues. “As you might know, I am the only daughter of Queen Hunga." she looks to Glimmer. "Did you know that?" Glimmer shook her head. Ralga shrugs and continues. "For twenty-one years, we’d held a tentative independence from the Horde. We sent our soldiers and some of our food, and in return, mom got to keep her position. For seven years, we harbored a fugitive… and Hordak’s second-in-command..." she hissed out the name, "... Shadow Weaver... tore the knowledge of that fugitive from my lips. This was a... very high-profile fugitive, let us say, and Hordak was not happy to learn what we'd been doing. My mother fought with all the fury of our people. We all did, even when our enemies were those harpies that chose to side with the Horde... But then the bomb. And it was flee or die... so we fled. Perhaps our fate is better than that of the magicats..." Adora cringed at the mention of the magicats. She'd almost forgotten what Hordak did to them. At the time, she thought they deserved it. "...Perhaps it is worse. There are more of us than there are of them, but they have their secret home within the earth... and we have nothing. Such is the price we paid for freedom.”

The rebels were silent. Slowly, the harpies start fluttering down from the trees, resting their tired bones on the forest floor. Much more slowly, other shapes start crawling out from their hiding places. Harpies who were too injured or too old to fly, mothers carrying children… they must have been travelling on foot, somehow. From the corner of her eye, Adora catches sight of a pack of orphaned children, clinging to the dress of an older woman. One young girl is cradled in her arms, face buried in the crook of her neck. She wonders how many of those children were orphans before the revolt… and how many lost their parents in the collapsing tunnels. She wonders how many mothers lost their children, how many eggs were broken, how many treasures and keepsakes couldn't be rescued from the collapsing tunnels. There were hundreds of years of history within those walls, people who had lived there for countless generations... and in a single day, all of it was buried. Now, all that remains is memories.

In the middle of the vast displaced flock stood their leader, a woman too young to be queen, a Force Captain who betrayed the Horde to save her people, a princess with no kingdom, a daughter with no mother... Ralga held out a hand towards Glimmer.

“This war has brought us all so much pain, so much loss, so much suffering. You didn’t deserve it. None of us did. I hear you’re looking for princesses to join your new alliance. If you’ll forgive us our sins… perhaps we can help you to end this madness, once and for all.”

The Princess of Bright Moon hesitated. It was Queen Hunga who led the attack that killed her father, that broke apart the Princess Alliance. Glimmer counted the years in her head… Ten years ago, Glimmer lost her father. Twenty years ago, almost twenty-one, now, Glimmer was born into a world at war. They all were. She looked to Ralga, too young to be a queen, too young for any of this responsibility. She had to be the same age as Glimmer. She, too, is a child of the war. And now she, too, knows what it's like to lose your family. 

Twenty years ago, the regents of the Black Assembly were assassinated.  
Ten years ago, Queen Hunga killed King Micah, vengeance for the attack on the Fright Zone.  
Seven years ago, Hunga took in a fugitive.  
And sometime either this year or the year before, Hunga’s treason was discovered, and all of Talon Mountain paid the price for it. Glimmer found herself wondering who that fugitive was. Why would the harpy queen risk the safety of her people for one person? And why… why did Ralga say she knew that Bright Moon was innocent? That it was impossible for Mystacor to have sent assassins to the Fright Zone? What did she learn about that dark day? There’s more to this story for sure, Glimmer thinks, but what matters now… is forgiveness. 

Bright Moon and the Black Assembly have never gotten along. Perhaps that can change. If mom were here, Glimmer imagined she'd be reluctant to extend forgiveness. She never liked Hunga, even before the war. Hunga was ruthless, she said, sadistic and cruel and so full of greed... but this story painted a different picture of the late queen. There had to have been some good in her, to resist Hordak for so long, even when pushed against the wall, to negotiate for her kingdom's independence, to risk everything to shelter someone fleeing Hordak's wrath, to fight a hopeless battle to the bitter end to protect her kingdom, to give her own life for the freedom her people deserved. But even if Hunga was a horrible person... that didn't matter. Ralga is not Hunga, and Glimmer is not Angella. The two are not bound by the mistakes of the past, nor are they necessarily doomed to repeat them. So, Glimmer made a bold decision,

and shook Ralga’s hand.  
“Of course. Welcome to the rebellion, Princess Ralga.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact! some harpies in the original series had bat wings, while others had feathered wings! They also had horns and partially furry bodies!
> 
> Fun fact! in the original series, both of Glimmer's parents were, at different times, captured by Queen Hunga! The first time, it was Queen Angella, who was made to wear a really garish collar that negated her powers. The second time, it was King Micah, who had managed to escape his prison on Horde World, before his ship crash landed on Etheria right next to Talon Mountain and he got picked up by some harpies on patrol.
> 
> Fun fact! Hunga and the harpies were never officially stated to be part of the Horde, they were just, like. Independently aligned antagonists. It was probably just them hating Angella, though. My pet theory is that they're jealous of her wings.
> 
> Fun fact! I spent hours combing through like twenty different floriography websites trying to figure out how to make the flowers say the things I wanted them to say... and then I ended up just. making up half of it, anyways! AAARGH!  
> (fun fact, 90% of the flower meanings you'll find are absolutely useless for anything except expressing your personal feelings about someone else. that's why I had so much trouble researching for this fic.)
> 
> anyways, the next chapter's going to be an "intermission," giving you some background information that I couldn't possibly slip into the story proper. You'll like it. It'll come out today.  
> After that, it's gonna be a while before the next real update, because I'm going to have to do a lot of Thinking on the events of the next chapters. I've got most all of this story planned out, but there's still some murky parts that I'm not satisfied with, yet, and this one is a big un.


	3. Intermission: Etherian Time, Festivals and Holidays, The Black Assembly

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just some background information of varying relevance to the plot. If you really hate my worldbuilding (half this fic is worldbuilding, what are you doing here?), then just pay attention to the names of the months and the timeline. If you love my worldbuilding… Enjoy.

==================  
==The Etherian Calendar==

Etheria, like Earth, has 12 months in a year. The month names are as follows: 

1) Dawnmoon 2) Wintersend 3) Springbloom 4) Flowermoon  
5) Rainmoon 6) Sunmoon 7) Midsummer 8) Summersend  
9) Windmoon 10) Autumnspeak 11) Frostfall 12) Winterspeak

Regarding holidays, they’re also very similar to Earth, though much of that is coincidence. Because there are no Earth religions on Etheria, many common Earth holidays lack an Etherian equivalent. Different kingdoms have different holidays, but certain holidays are shared by kingdoms, and a few are nigh-universally celebrated.

Being situated in a subtropical climate, the kingdom of Bright Moon doesn’t celebrate most of the seasonal holidays. While they do celebrate the winter and summer solstices, they have their own unique traditions regarding the two holidays. Like Mystacor, they have a special observance for the time that all the moons of Etheria align.

The All-Princess Ball will always take place on the 21st of Winterspeak, otherwise known as the winter solstice. Normally, the hosting kingdom is _not_ one that experiences freezing cold winters, meaning that it’s very rare for the Kingdom of Snows to host the ball. 

Plumeria has an unusual holiday, known as the Day of Yearning. It takes its origins from a particularly tragic story involving star-crossed lovers, and to celebrate, plumerians will go and arrange flower-messages to express their secret feelings for another. These flower-messages do not always have to convey romantic feelings, and the recipient of those feelings does not necessarily have to receive said flower-message. Some particularly private plumerians may conceal the contents of their flower-message with a cloth cover, while others will intentionally pluck the petals from the flowerheads before placing them in the bottle, making the message harder to read.

=====================  
==Timeline of Etherian Events==

(within the modern Etherian calendar, Year 0 marks the day that the stars went out, IE when Mara stranded the planet within Despondos)

990 - Light Spinner is exiled from Mystacor

997 - Queen Angella marries King Micah

999 - the Great War begins, the Princess Alliance is formed

3 Dawnmoon, 1000 - the Hall of Horrors is attacked, Hordak rises to power

1010 - King Micah dies, the Princess Alliance disbands

24 Frostfall, 1019 - The Revolt of Talon Mountain

8 Winterspeak, 1019 - Thaymor is attacked by the Horde, Adora defects

11 Winterspeak, 1019 - She-Ra visits Plumeria, Perfuma joins the New Princess Alliance

21 Winterspeak, 1019 - The All-Princess Ball is interrupted by a surprise attack from the Horde, Glimmer is kidnapped

25 Winterspeak, 1019 - Glimmer is rescued from the Fright Zone, but the New Princess Alliance temporarily disbands.

1 Dawnmoon, 1020 - The Battle of Bright Moon

30 Dawnmoon, 1020 - Shadow Weaver dies

14 Wintersend, 1020 - Former Force Captain Ralga joins the new Princess Alliance

================  
==The Black Assembly==

The large and desolate arid region now controlled by the Horde used to be the homeland of a number of races: The trolls of Spikeheart, the harpies of Talon Mountain, the nomadic snakemen of the Viper House, the arachnofolk of the Crimson Wastes, and the Magicats of D’riluth. These kingdoms made their home in the horrible and nigh-inhospitable mountains steppes and deserts that surrounded the so-called “Cursed Runestone”: the Black Garnet. Folklore across Etheria warns of the poison, nightmares, and corruption that the Black Garnet brings to anyone unfortunate enough to approach it, and the valley that the Garnet was situated in was so horrifically inhospitable, so choked by its own shadows and tainted air, that it was known only as the Fright Zone.

At some time, four hundred years after the stars vanished from Etheria’s skies, four princesses from four kingdoms dared to venture into the Fright Zone. After many trials and tribulations, at long last, they reached the Black Garnet within. And though they intended to destroy it… they soon learned that the Garnet was not evil. Far from it, in fact. The evil that plagued the Fright Zone was simply a result of the Garnet not having someone to wield its powers. It has been known for years in Etheria, that if a runestone has no one attuned to its power, then that power will rage on unchecked. Thus was the case with the Black Garnet, its untamed shadows bringing all manner of suffering to the land. 

The four princesses decided that something needed to be done about this. The Black Garnet would no longer be without its own princess. … However, the heroes could not decide which among them should step forth and assume the responsibility of commanding the shadows, which of their four kingdoms should rule over the others. The power of the Black Garnet was mighty, after all, and it could easily turn a queen into a tyrant. 

Their solution was the Black Assembly. From that point forward, Spikeheart, Talon Mountain, Viper House, and Scorpion Hill would all be united under one banner, one alliance. Within this alliance, responsibility over the Black Garnet would be traded from kingdom to kingdom, from princess to princess. This desolate land belonged to all of them, and so too would the Black Garnet. 

Over time, the Fright Zone was transformed into a prosperous city, and the Hall of Horrors was built around the Black Garnet, as a palace for whoever carried the burden of the Cursed Runestone. Other kingdoms began to notice the Assembly’s growing power, and diplomacy with the other kingdoms, particularly those that held their own runestones, was difficult. It was a long time before the Black Assembly regents even received invitations to the All-Princess Ball, and never in the history of Etheria has the Black Assembly ever been chosen to host a ball. Despite these challenges, however, the Black Assembly had made friends here and there. Chief among them were the Magicats of D’riluth. 

The Magicats held their own runestone, the Tigerseye, but nonetheless, they chose to ally themselves with the Assembly, and were in fact the first to argue for the Assembly’s inclusion in the All-Princess Ball. In honor of their enduring friendship, the Magicats would send a delegate from their kingdom to the Assembly, to serve as an honorary member. This delegate was never the Magicat Queen or Princess, of course. One cannot command the power of two runestones. 

Then there was one unexpected addition to the ranks of the Assembly: Beast Island. 

Beast Island is known by most of Etheria as overwhelmingly hostile, a dense jungle filled with terrifying, violent monsters, poisonous plants, and horribly stinky marshes. Most people avoid it for obvious reasons, but one person, a dragon named Sorrowful, dared to enter that island. Plagued with uncharacteristic fear for most of his life, Sorrowful had hoped to steel his heart by fighting the various creatures that stalked Beast Island… but instead, he realized that there was fear in the heart of every last monster on that island, that all of them were just as afraid as he was. Somehow, Sorrowful managed to perform the impossible, and tamed the monsters of Beast Island, who then crowned him their king. Soon afterwards, Sorrowful would join the Black Assembly. At over five hundred years old, Sorrowful would be newest addition to the assembly… and also the oldest member.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this was originally just going to be some calendar information, but then I ended up telling the story of the Black Assembly. oops. 
> 
> Anyways, each of the races (save one) and locations mentioned here are from the original series.  
> The trolls were featured in one episode, their king was the only one alive who knew the way to the Crystal Castle.  
> the harpies, I'd discussed in the previous chapter already.  
> the snakemen were originally conceived of as enemies of he-man, and would have lived in Snake Mountain on Eternia. However, they never ended up being featured in the he-man cartoon, so some of the snakemen characters appeared in She-Ra as mooks working for the Horde. I'm like 90% sure they're the inspiration for Rogelio, btw, which is why, in this fic, Rogelio is a snakeman. Even though he's a lizard. look, snakes and lizards are both squamates it still fuckign works.  
> the arachnofolk... weren't actually a thing in the original. In the original, the Crimson Wastes was just. the place that Scorpia ruled over. Whatever, yo.  
> The magicats... I'm like 90% sure everyone knows all about the magicats, lmao.  
> Sorrowful the dragon had at least two different episodes devoted to his character arc! The second one went down... pretty much exactly like in the story I wrote up there. Beast Island was originally a Horde penal colony, and Sorrowful realized all the monsters on the island were scared too, so he led them in a revolt against the Horde. anyways I love Sorrowful.
> 
> I never like, actually looked up what the Hall of Horrors was supposed to be? but it's canon. I know it's canon. that's what matters.


	4. Announcement, for anyone who cares

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ao3 mods please don't nuke this fic because i wrote a non-chapter I'm sorry I'm so sorry really truly honestly pls have mercy.

so uhhhhhhh.   
Season 2 happened. and fucked up a lot of my plans for this fic! as you might imagine! for a long time, I struggled to work out if i wanted to edit the fic to work with the canon, or say fuck it and do an AU. on the one hand, the stuff in season 2 was fascinating, and I wanted to work with it for this fic. on the other hand, well. 

... a lot of things got fucked up, didn't they? 

so I finally figured out that I'll just try to rewrite it all from scratch, delete this fic and post a new one. keep a backup of this fic and my old notes on my personal files, just for memory's sake.   
and I had just (figuratively) sat my arse down to work on actual rewriting, and perhaps adding a new chapter...

.... and season 3 happened. 

and, well. 

amongst the obvious problems that I'm now dealing with: entrapta's relationship with catra and hordak, shadow weaver's fate after the battle of bright moon, catra's obvious gargantuan fucking issues, queen angella being GONE, the crimson waste is now an actual thing in the story, we've sort of seen firsthand how the horde took control of the black garnet, and it was a violent takeover (save me please god), there's another tangle in this.... mess.........

See, Adora was going to fall to her presumed death in the next chapter of this fic (which I'd actually almost-finished before things got fucked), an event that has Scorpia all flummoxed (for reasons unrevealed until fic 2 of the series) (yes the different fics all take place at the same time, just through different perspectives), and Catra downright depressed. it was going to be later revealed in the third story that Adora survived thanks to Orko... a character from he-man. IE. an eternian. Orko was going to explain that he had found Etheria because the long-dormant Sword of Power, twin to the Sword of Protection, suddenly came alive, which could only mean that whatever had stopped this connection before (hint hint despondos) was somehow removed. and the Sorceress of Castle Grayskull tracked down the beacon from the sword to find Etheria. and then orko made a portal.

and what created that beacon that made all this happen was Adora's Rainbow Wave during the battle of Bright Moon. it uh. it made a tiny wormhole. i guess.

Also, Adora is actually over a thousand years old. Hordak and Shadow Weaver travelled back in time to before Etheria was thrown into Despondos, and stole Adora. 

 

.... uhm. yeah, maybe I shouldn't have gone this deep into things that the show was obviously going to explain eventually.

*sigh*

so I'm just writing this to let y'all know that I'm not abandoning these ideas, they just need some serious reworking. that's fine by me. the best work here was Chapter 2, and thank the heavens none of that has been fucked with. 

... but going forward, this fic will officially be an AU, primarily because what i wrote about how hordak takes control of the black garnet is too juicy, and also, it's the main fucking theme of this work. also because putting catrapta in this story was the best idea I've ever had. also because if the show ever disproves catra being a princess, I WILL IGNORE THAT, BECAUSE AGAIN, MAIN THEME OF THIS WORK. if any more characters from the OG show get confirmed, and I included them in this fic, I will just stealthily edit their physical descriptions to match the canon designs and change literally nothing else. if they put hunga in as a force captain, im ignoring it. ok?

so this is an AU now. officially. that means I'll get to have some more fun with the world, so I'm cool with that. just so that I get my thoughts out, here's some changes I'll probably make and not make in Lost Inheritance 2.0:

> up until a certain point, events in the AU will coincide with events in the show, even if things end up differently. However, the plot will sharply derail away from canon at Season 3, episode 4.

> catrapta lives, but it's now competing for space with scorptra. entrapdak will never be in this fic, because fuck het lives (I've kinda warmed up to this ship? sorta??? still won't write or read it lol im 2 gay. if you want to actually see some very very slight platonic entrapdak from me, push me to actually upload my stupid as hell kitras AU) (which is an au where catra accidentally makes kittens with half the princess alliance and also scorpia and entrapta) (its stupid and dumb but kittens are adorable so I hope I'm valid)

> shadow weaver's death is beautiful prose... but it doesn't work. not.... how it is, now. remember: the plot will derail from canon at season 3. episode 4. IE: the chapter where shadow weaver leads Glimmer into the Fright Zone. 

remember the scene where Shadow Weaver confronts Catra?  
:)   
:) :) :)

> Catra tripped the portal, but Orko was there. things get super fucky. Angella lives. this is a good idea, because shadow weaver will die. and thus completely ruin your hopes of ever seeing my take on Dark Glimmer (it's cool. i have no good ideas anyways)

> Catra will be ranging from problematic to downright irredeemable for most of her fic. hope y'all are ready.  
> her interactions with Entrapta will still be pure and good. Entrapta's gonna be her morality pet, basically.   
... her chaotic neutral morality pet. god, this is gonna be a mess.

> Hordak will be utterly iredeemable throughout. if you're reading this, Rae? I'm sorry. I know he's your precious boy. I understand. It's just. look. I made him into an overt genocider instead of an implied genocider. this ain't steven universe. dropping an atom bomb on a city is kind of the moral event horizon! also, this series is about Hordak personally ripping away the families, kingdoms, and futures of the main characters, so he's kinda gotta be the big bad.

>scorpia's people are not from the crimson waste! obviously. their new home is Scorpion Hill, a region that's pretty close to the Waste, but isn't quite as uninhabitable!

> Viper House, however, will have a historic claim on the lands of the Crimson Waste. I mean it only makes sense did you see all the snakes walking around? so many reptiles.

> Grizzlor is a troll. he wasn't in the original, but you know what? he's big and hairy. he deserves it.

> the Tigerseye won't have fire powers. this is because there's an official book coming out with a side story centering around a fire princess. dammit. now I have to think of something else. it's probably going to be either ice (reference to OG catra's mask, which was magicat in make, having a secret ability to blast ice rays from the eyes), or something related to illusions (magicats in the OG show were masters of illusion). the good news of that is that I won't need to content warning for flesh being burned off! :D

> as I'd originally designed them, the arachnofolk were going to have traits from arachnids of all sorts. so. spiders, whip scorpions, whip spiders, the works! but given that we saw Scorpia's people, and they all generally had the same scorpionparts as Scorpia, I'm not sure I can justify it. But I really want to keep it. Queen Rachnea is a whip scorpion and she has fun claws and a cute thin tail come on why would I not.

> Micah isn't dead. I'm anticipating the plot twist right fucking now so I don't screw myself over. But I won't write how he survives until it's revealed in the show. (THATS FINE. THIS IS A LONG FIC. LETS BE REAL, THE SHOW WILL END BEFORE I'M DONE WITH IT.)

>Adora's still "dead", but this death scene has now been moved to the confrontation at the Crimson Waste, which means that the majority of the fic will not be centered around catra thinking her not-ex is dead as a doornail. it also means Adora's fic is gonna be fucky as hell. good thing ive got so much time to figure that one out!

> I won't be explaining how hordak stole adora. it's. kind of pointless and boring, honestly, now that the show explained it so easily. there will also be no time travel shenanigans, which, frankly? given how many hours I spent agonizing how exactly I can keep Adora and Adam the same age while one time travelled and the other remained behind? good. fucking. riddance. time travel is overrated. 

oh. shit. i kinda dropped the bomb there, didn't I? 

well, announcement over! I'll try to get to writing as soon as I can! wish me luck!


End file.
